Color: Dark brown dorsally with 3 to 5 greyish-blue bands on its disc. These bands disappear with age. The underside is whitish.

Body is diamond-shaped and its disc is about twice as wide as it is long. The head is distinctly elevated from the body and the large eyes and spiracles are located at the sides of the head. The mouth is straight, without buccal processes on its floor. Teeth in each jaw are in series of 7. The pelvic fins are fleshy and extend beyond the tip of the small single dorsal fin at the tail base. The tail is long and whip-like and carries no spines. The skin is smooth in young and very finely tuberculated in adults.

Jones, S and Sujansingani, KH (1954) Fish and fisheries of the Chilka Lake with statistics of fish catches for the years 1948-1950 Indian Journal of Fisheries Indian Journal of Fisheries for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research 1 (1-2) 256-344 Available at - http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/1634/2/Article_15.pdf

Pillai, PKM and Augustine, SK (2000) A code list of common marine living resources of the Indian seas CMFRI Special Publication No.12 CMFRI 1-115 Available at - eprints.cmfri.org.in/3975/1/Special_Publication_No_12_Revised.pdf